Guardian of the Nexus
by ButterflyMiko
Summary: Our world and the worlds of Fantasy can only exist together because of the Guardian of the Nexus. This person holds the Book of Grimm and uses the power of Fairy Tales to guide humans on the right path. That person was 12 year old Elaine Shallott's father. And he is now dead, and the task falls to her. But even with Jack Frost by her side, the Tales begin to unravel...
1. Taboo

**Evil Queen's Castle**

**Madchen, Magic Kingdom**

Ernest clutched at his chest, knowing this was the end for him.

"You cannot do this, Cora." Ernest said. "Regina and I are best friends! She is a good person! You already took her beloved away, don't take her best friend too!"

"When Regina finds you felled by Snow's arrow," Cora said. "She will finally realize that she must kill that wretched girl. She will become a witch greater then you and your bloodline of Guardians!"

Ernest choked on blood. "This is a taboo! You Villains are not allowed to spill Guardian blood!"

Cora laughed. "No one will ever know it was us. It will always be believed that the pure Princess Snow White killed the last of the Guardians!"

Ernest smirked; even in his dying moment; having the last laugh against the Villains.

"Did you say the last?" Ernest smiled. "We're Witches, my dear..._we can do anything_!"

**Villain Council**

**Leader: Queen of Hearts**

Maleficent glared across the counter at Cora. "You are going to get us all killed, Cora."

"I am the leader here." Cora said. "She was going to turn my Regina good."

"That is what they do," Jafar spat. "Jo's father Will was the best friend of that street rat. Before Aladdin was a criminal, set out to become my partner; now he has been my undoing."

"What can we do about it?" Ursula said. "It is all Molly's fault that my father chose Triton over me. Molly, if you will remember; was William's mother."

"That is why I have called you here, my friends." Cora said. "For years we have suffered at the hands of the Heroes and their Guardian. We must find a way to turn the Guardian to our side."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Hades said. "You know my brother will just find a way to control the situation. He's been simply wretched since the Heroes got all of those Avengers on their side."

"Their greatest weapon." Thanos said, sitting up from a darkened edge of the table. "It is Love. If we can use that, we are completely inevitable."

"Love is weakness." Cora said. "If the Guardian loved a Villain..."

**Hero Council**

**Leader: Snow White**

There was an angry murmuring; everyone was in a state of panic.

"Enough!" Snow said. "I did NOT murder the Guardian!"

"We know that, Snow." Florian said. "No one blames you."

"It does not really matter who murdered her." Captain America said, entering with a select few of the Avengers. "The point is that for the first time in the history of our world, we are without a Guardian."

"So the world will be without a Guardian for a few years; what does it matter?" Kuzco said.

There was a collective gasp.

"You obviously don't understand the way this works." Blue said. "We need a Guardian. Without one, the Fantasy world and the Human world will both shatter."

"So...what will be done?" Howl said.

"Send in an antihero!" Jack Sparrow said, waving a bottle of rum around. "But not me."

Snow rolled her eyes. "Yes we know the law. An antihero must be chosen to aid the budding Guardian."

"Yes yes...who was Ernest's?" Aurora said. "Send them in, shouldn't they pick?"

"Lets see..." Blue said. "Ernest would be—"

"ME!" Elsa entered the room.

There was a collective shiver.

"Do I even get a chance to mourn my husband?" Elsa asked. "Ernest died a hero; or don't any of you care about him?"

"Elsa..." Anna said. "Calm down. We have to pick a partner for...what's the girl's name?"

"Elaine." Elsa said bitterly. "Our twelve year old daughter. Her name is Elaine."

"I'm sure you already chose someone, Elsa." Snow said cheerily.

"Yes. That person is—"

"Not so fast!" Cora entered the room.

"How dare you!" Snow said.

A magical alarm summoned the Avengers to guard the council.

"Relax, Princess." Cora chuckled. "I am here to avoid war."

"What do you mean?" Captain America said in a threatening tone.

"I mean, that if Snow broke the taboo and spilled Guardian blood, it means war in Disneyland." Cora said. "Unless..."

"What is it that you want?" Snow said in a careful, measured tone.

"The child." Cora said. "We will choose her antihero. We will test her. And...we will administer her final exam."

"Agreed." Snow said. "However...I will have final say on everything. And the Guardian is to have access to the Book and her powers. You cannot take away her birthright."

"Of course, Princess."

Cora vanished.

"_I won't need to." _

**Human World**

**San Francisco**

Elaine Shalott sat next to her father's grave, clutching a huge book, which looked much too big for her.

As it began to rain, a small shape scuttled up to her in the darkness.

Jack Frost leaned on his staff, and dropped a ring of keys into her hands.


	2. Book

"Today we are going to discuss the ethics behind the story of Cinderella." Sela stood at the blackboard.

She was a guest speaker at Elaine's school for the Elementary Graduation. Apparently Ms Mathers taught a class at the University called "Fairy Tales: Ethics and Allegories."

But there it was again. That strange book.

Sela Mathers was holding it. It had an Auryn on the front cover, but otherwise was bright red, huge, and had fade-edged paper.

Elaine sketched the Auryn on her notebook. She liked symbols. The Auryn was a symbol of time and eternity. But what was it doing on a book of Fairy Tales?

"In the clean version of Cinderella," Sela continued. "We have someone who worked hard all her life rewarded with a happily ever after. But in the version we all know, the Stepfamily moves into the castle with her."

"Now let me ask you. Do you think their cruelty would have stopped there? Wouldn't they have manipulated their new position to terrorize Cinderella even in the palace?"

Elaine looked up. That was precisely why she hated Cinderella so much. Lofty, awful story with absolutely no justice.

"The Grimm brothers had the same idea. At the end of the tale, crows gouge out the eyes of the stepfamily. Seems more fitting that they are punished doesn't it?"

"But even then there are a thousand more endings. For example. What if Cinderella went to the ball to murder the prince? Or what if her stepfamily wasn't evil at all, just misunderstood?"

"Ethics are the same way. That's why, in school and in life; you must look _deeper._"

Sela finished her monologue and got off the stage. As she was leaving, she dropped her book next to Elaine's desk, and made no move to pick it up.

Elaine knelt, sure she wouldn't be able to lift the heavy tome with her slight frame; but the book was...smaller?

She carried it off, chasing the older woman into the dense forest to return it.

At some point, Jack Frost joined.

"You again?" Elaine said. "Go away. I'm already crazy enough!"

"You really think I'm going to abandon you after all the trouble I've gone to?" Jack grinned.

The trees blurred past and suddenly everything was different.

The air was clearer, crisper.

She was falling...

Falling...

Falling...


	3. Door

Elaine saw a large wooden door surrounded in mist. "Is that... the Gate!?"

"Stop!" a voice called. "From here is the Otherworld. You cannot proceed." The woman stepped forward. She carried a long staff resembling a key. She wore the last outfit Elaine had seen her in—it was her mother, Elsa. "I am the watcher of the space-time door, the guardian of the underworld. And I will eliminate those who violate the law."

Elaine gasped. "Mother!?"

She held her staff out and shouted, "Mortuus Clamor!"

Elaine cried out in pain as wind whipped sharply across her skin.

"You may be the Guardian," Elsa said. "No matter who you are, I cannot allow you to break the law. My mission must be to destroy you." She raised her staff again.

"Stop!"

Elsa turned around and saw Jack running quickly toward her.

"Don't hurt her!" Jack said. "She's the Guardian!"

Elsa lowered her staff. "As you wish Jack Frost."

"That's Chronos." Jack said. "Guardian of doors."

"Who is this Chronos? Why did I not see her before?" Elaine asked.

"Chronos stays at the Gate. Choose your door." Jack said.

Elaine looked around. There were four doors: Myst, Neverland, Oz, and Wonderland.

"What's that one?" Elaine pointed at a door that appeared to be under construction.

"You don't want to go in that door." Chronos said. "It has all the things from this world that are not quite ready for your world."

"Are you ready?" Jack said.

"I'm sure Jack." Elaine said.

Chronos smiled as she watched them. "Your family has had me here since long ago. Now go. The door has opened." She motioned toward the door.

Jack held onto Elaine's arm. "Let's go."

"Wait," said Elaine. "What about you, Mo—Chronos?"

"I cannot leave here," Chronos said. "Jack, please protect our new Guardian."

Elaine and Jack stared at the light shining through the large doorway. "On the other side... The Other World..." They walked through.


	4. Scythe

Ever since she was very small, the first glow of magic inside her had been Elaine's sensory powers.

She had always been able to sense death.

She could clearly remember visiting a relative in the hospital with her mother.

Elaine had screamed and cried and carried on, not understanding that no one else could feel the ripping pain in her chest. The empty feeling, the hollow ache.

Her mother had made her sit outside the room for making a scene.

Elaine had declared. "She's going to die! She's going to die!"

Ever since then she knew better then to tell people about her gifts. Even her mother, who had similar powers, could not understand.

No one understood why the young girl locked herself in the bathroom during social events or ran away during concerts and large theatrical productions.

The official diagnosis was something along the lines of Anxiety and Depression.

But for Elaine, it was more like the constant pressure, a thousand different feelings at once. Empathy.

So as she entered the magical corona at the end of Jack Frost's life, Elaine felt a great many things.

Fear and Acceptance from Jack. Deep Sorrow from his sister

But there was something...something different.

What was that thread around the boy's neck?

Elaine reached out and the thread tangled around her wrist, and Jack fell into her hands.

Apparently no one could see them, and then they were in another place, somewhere cold and dark.

There was a cut in the sky where Elaine looked, and a girl stepped from it.

She was a twelve year old, same age as Elaine.

Her hair was up in high blue pigtails, and she held a scythe, and wore what appeared to be gothic Lolita style clothing.

"An angel of death?" Jack said weakly.

"Shinigami." The girl said. "My name is Ninako."

Elaine was busy examining the threads. It was Jack' life, in the tiny threads, and somehow she understood.

Ninako raised her scythe to cut the threads, and Elaine pulled them back, weaving them back into Jack's life thread.

"No!" Elaine said.

"No?" Ninako lowered her scythe.

"No?" Jack looked at her, confused.

Very few people liked him enough to save his life, and this girl was a stranger. Why would she intervene on his behalf?

Elaine tapped the Auryn on her shoulder. "There are...three dragons on the Auryn. The Auryn represents life. I'm supposed to get three second chances if I die here. He can have one."

"I-I don't understand..." Jack said. "Why would you give me part of your life?"

Elaine met his sapphire eyes with her turquoise ones. "I don't know."

A bright light flashed, and Jack and Elaine vanished from that in-between realm, free-falling into the past.


	5. Dreaming

Jack Frost was walking slowly in the Neverland forest.

The darkness was absolute as he found himself walking into the bush.

It began to rain, and he could hear voices, women's voices.

Jack began to run.

The maniacal laughter came closer, closer.

It was just a dream so why was he so...afraid?

Jack entered a clearing.

A body floated up out of the lake.

Elaine's body.

She reached out and grabbed him.

"_Jack!"_

_Xxx_

They were standing in a corridor, surrounded by doors.

"How did we get here?" Jack asked.

"I was trying to ease your nightmares. I must have brought us into them by mistake and—"

Maniacal laughter.

"Quick—in here!" Jack produced a small silver key and opened a large ornate door labeled: Myst.

"What are we running from?" Elaine asked him as he pulled her through the void.

"Pitch." Jack said, his face impassive as he grasped Elaine and pulled her toward Relionko Castle.


	6. Cinderella

Elaine sighed as the light died down. She looked down at herself. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress.

She was older, perhaps eighteen, and her dark curls were done up in a bun, and she could feel her face was heavy with make-up.

She looked over as the blue light danced around a pumpkin and some mice and transformed them into a carriage.

"You must hurry, Cinderella." Fairy Godmother said. "The magic will only last until midnight."

"But I—"

She turned and saw an eighteen-year old Jack Frost running towards her.

A hand grabbed her wrist, and knocked the fairy out with a blow to the head.

Elaine was pulled into the living room of Tremaine manor.

She chanced a look back, staring hopelessly at Jack as the fairy tale began to fall out of balance.

Xxx

Jack found himself standing in the mud.

He was very irritable, and his memories were a bit muddled as he had become aware of his entire story and that Elaine had saved him.

The window was open slightly and he watched an eerily familiar scene.

"Drizella, I want you to watch this very carefully," Lady Tremaine said.

The Fairy was bound on the couch, and Lady Tremaine took her wand.

"Magic is not true power." Lady Tremaine said. "Because it can be taken. Fear is true power. It lasts forever."

The fairy quailed under the gaze of the Lady as she pointed the wand at her.

"Ah..." She waved the wand and the fairy turned to ash. "So that is how you use that."

Lady Tremaine took a knife from her belt and handed it to Elaine. "Now, Cinderella, you will go to the ball, and murder the prince."

"Murder?!" Elaine said. "I-I can't—"

"Oh but you will." Lady Tremaine said, twirling the wand in her hand. "If the turned a fairy to ash, imagine what it could do to—your friend?"

Lady Tremaine pointed the wand at Jack.

Jack stayed very still, not wanting to make things worse.

"Fine. I'm going." Elaine said. "But Jack comes with me."

"Of course." Lady Tremaine said. "Come, Drizella."

Xxx

Elaine had endured the gasps from all the fancy noble people as she entered the ball.

The prince approached her, and Elaine's heart leapt into her throat as the knife clattered to the floor.

Her...father?!

Xxx

Jack managed to wedge his way in between them.

He gathered the knife himself and put it in his belt.

"I know what you are thinking, Ella," Jack used the nickname in case someone heard them. "But that is not who you think it is."

"Ernest Shalott." Elaine choked out. "My father. Give me the knife. I'll kill him myself."

Jack pulled back in the steps of the dance, confused. "You hate your father?"

A long pause.

"I don't know." Elaine said finally. "He fought a lot with my Grams. Maybe...I just remember the anger...the fighting."

Jack released her, and Ernest took her hand to dance with her.

"I'm sorry. I-I can't..." Elaine looked up at the man who had her father's face.

Ernest touched her cheek. A shred of recognition. "Thank you."

Elaine turned to run—

—Right into Lady Tremaine's arms.

"Stupid girl." Lady Tremaine said. "Can't you do one thing right?"

She stabbed the prince.

"Well. You can do one thing." Lady Tremaine thrust the bloodied knife at her. "GET HER! She murdered the prince!"

Xxx

Jack and Elaine made it back to Tremaine manor only to find Drizella in the barn kissing Jacob, the prince's servant.

Jack pressed a key into Elaine's hands.

"Think about it. You got your father back today." Jack said to her. "Even a small part of him. Give this girl her life back."

"I can't, Jack. She's a villain. Villains don't get happy endings." Elaine recited the words her Grams had taught her.

Jack just looked at her, and gave her a sad smile.

"Then why did you save me, Elaine? I'm an _antihero, _remember?"

A tear rolled down Elaine's cheek and she knew what she had to do.

Xxx

"This key, it will really give us passage to another world?" Drizella said.

She and Jacob stood at the now glowing barn door.

"You have to hurry. Mother will be back any minute." Elaine said.

"What about you?" Drizella said. "I won't leave you under her tyranny. I know I haven't been a good sister but—"

Elaine threw the door open. "I won't let her walk free."

"Won't let who walk free!" Lady Tremaine entered and lunged for Drizella and Jacob.

Elaine pushed them into the maelstrom and they disappeared.

"Then I'll take your heart to save my Anastasia, as you've become quite the Hero, Cinderella." Lady Tremaine said.

She reached for Elaine's chest, but Jack leapt in between them, and his heart was taken.

Jack slumped to the ground.

"Jack!" Elaine grabbed the knife. "Put him right you witch!"

"I'm no witch..." Lady Tremaine said. "Though I'm starting to think you might be, Cinderella."

Lady Tremaine went to the hay bales and cleared them away. There was a glass coffin, and a young girl perfectly preserved.

"I—Won't—Let—You!" Elaine said ferociously, each word punctuated by her slamming her fist on the woman's back.

A red glow emanated from her hands and a tear coursed down Lady Tremaine's cheek.

The Lady collapsed, and pushed the coffin open, caressing her daughter's cheek.

"Anastasia..." Lady Tremaine kissed the girl on the forehead. "I love you..."

There was a pulse, the girl's eyes opened.

Elaine grabbed Jack' heart and returned it to him, shuffling away as the scenery began to bleed away like watercolor.

They had broken the fairy tale.


	7. Sleeping Beauty

**Hero Council**

**Leader: Snow White**

Snow slammed her fist on the table. "Will everyone please calm down!"

"How can we?" Cinderella said angrily. "That Guardian of yours is tag-teaming with a Villain, and she's helping their side!"

"Jack is not a Villain!" Elsa said. "He's clearly an antihero!"

"Just like you're not." Moana said. "Even though you almost killed your sister."

"Alright that is enough!" Florian said. "Elaine's actions were all Good."

"That's right." Snow said. "She refused to kill the prince, she aided the innocent Drizella in finding a happy ending, and she even converted Lady Tremaine and saved Anastasia."

"Well now she's headed to Dornia." Stefan said. "Why don't we test her. See which side she is truly on."

Xxx

Jack and Elaine were yanked into the throne room of King Stefan and Queen Leah.

"You are aware of why you have been called here today." Stefan said.

Jack quickly played along. "Of course your majesty. We are at your service."

"The Royal Sorcerer is in need of one thing to finish the fertility serum." Stefan said. "A Dragon Egg."

"That is right." Leah said. "You must steal the egg from the Dragon in the Forbidden Mountain."

Xxx

"I can't believe you got us roped into this!" Elaine shouted at Jack. "Saying we were at their service!"

"Would you rather we end up in the dungeons?" Jack said wryly.

"Well I'd prefer that to burned to a crisp!" Elaine said irritably. "Now be quiet. At least the thing is sleeping."

She opened the heart shaped box and pulled out a sword.

"Do you know how to use that?" Jack gave her a look.

"I think when I'm being chomped at I'll learn quickly enough." Elaine snapped back.

The two descended in to the dragons lair.

Maleficent the dragon lay curled and warm around a small purple egg.

Elaine crawled over the dragons coils, motioning Jack to stay back. She tried her new empathy power on the dragon, and it worked marvelously, keeping the large creature relaxed and sleepy.

Elaine returned to the mouth of the cave clutching the Egg.

No sooner had the two reached the edge of the forest then there was a howl of sorrow so painful that Elaine almost collapsed.

"Well what did you think?" Jack snapped. "It's a dragon baby after all."

"Look I don't like this any more than you do!" Elaine yelled at him. "But it's us or the Egg!"

They barely made it away from the fire and brimstone and presented the Egg to King Stefan and Queen Leah.

The Queen stepped down and placed a soft pale hand on the warm shell.

Elaine suddenly had an awful feeling. Was the Queen going to eat the baby dragon?

Cracks appeared on the surface of the shell, and something began to hatch out.

"Waaaaah!" It was the cry of an infant.

A human infant.

Queen Leah lifted the baby out from the shell.

Looking closely, the baby appeared to actually be a fairy child, but it had camouflaged to protect itself.

"Her name shall be Aurora." Queen Leah said.

"You have done well." King Stefan said. "I just knew you were a wonderful Guardian."

The colors began to bleed as Elaine looked helplessly at Jack, wanting to scream, wanting to take the child back to the fairy dragon mother.

The cry of Maleficent echoing in her ears as tears fell, her body transported to the next realm.


	8. Dark Shadows

Jack was leaning against his staff, staring down at the sleeping Elaine. He was getting restless and afraid.

Why wouldn't she wake up?

Nicholas entered the bedroom. "Jack, I'm afraid...she has begun to reflect the damage to this realm."

Jack stiffened. "What do you mean? All she was doing was what the Council—and you—told her! This isn't fair! Why does she have to suffer!"

Nicholas put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "The Book has begun to darken. The darker it becomes, the darker the shadow on her heart and lungs. Her breathing is already labored, and soon she—"

"Guardians...danger...statues...JACK!" Elaine cried, and sat straight up in bed.

"Did you see something?" Nicholas asked her.

Jack pushed him back. "Don't crowd her. Something really scared her."

Jack gathered the sobbing Elaine in his arms.

"I-I'm sorry..." Elaine said. "I kept going back, but I couldn't see it...I couldn't find you..."

Nicholas placed a key with the symbol of wings on it into Jack's hands. "You know where you have to go. But be warned...that world's leader has long been looking for our Elaine. He will stop at nothing to have her."

Jack's fist curled around Neverland's key. "He'll have to go through me."


	9. Never Ever

Before we continue, you have to know something about Peter Pan.

That something is: Everything you know is wrong.

Peter Pan is not a good, happy, flying boy. He kidnaps children and uses their belief to power Neverland's magic.

Neverland exists on belief. But that power is quickly running out, so ever since the beginning, Peter has been searching for a person, a child. The child with the strongest belief in the universe.

You might say Peter Pan is the direct opposite of Jack Frost. Peter kidnaps and exploits children for their belief; Jack protects that same belief and saves children.

But Elaine would never wake unless Jack was able to make some sort of arrangement with Peter and find the center of her dreams.

For Neverland is the ancient homeland of the Dreaming, the place we all go when we dream. It was also the original home of Sanderson Mansnoozie, the Sandman.

But ever since Peter Pan had landed, and his hostile take over (with the help of the Shadow) the Sandman had be exiled to the Guardian headquarters.

Jack was remembering all of this as he landed on Neverland shore.

"Welcome, Jackson Overland Frost." Peter smiled as Jack realized that his powers were useless; that in fact, he couldn't even fly here. "The Shadow told me you would be here soon."

"Face it Peter," Jack snapped. "That Shadow is just Pitch."

The Shadow waved merrily and mockingly at Jack and then gestured to the bush of Neverland.

"You're free to enter the Dreaming." Peter said. "If you can face your Fears and Nightmares...then I might just let you free your girl."

Peter Pan winked at him.

"Let's see how long your belief lasts." Peter said. "Or if you sink into despair."

He saluted to the Shadow; to Pitch, and the two flew off to the observatory, which was postered with drawings of a boy, the Believer—not yet born.


	10. Labyrinth

Jack entered the bush, a labyrinth of dreams not yet realized.

As he ventured further in, he could hear Elaine's voice—she was crying.

He found himself on a pond, and it wasn't Elaine crying; it was his sister; Rachel!

Jack watched the dream—memory—play out as he saved her and fell into the ice.

He could hear singing off in the distance.

"Last I saw you there,

Now I am alone...

My grief's too much to bear;

I'll never be home..."

Jack chased the voice, that hypnotic singing and perfect music was amazing—and he found himself in Mermaid's Grotto.

Normally mermaids are friendly, curious creatures. But being under Peter's rule and dealing with him and the Lost Boys had interred in them a hatred of human beings and caused them to use their hypnotic songs to destroy them.

Jack knew this, but the mermaid on the rock looked just like Elaine!

"I can see you...Can you see me?

You have finally arrived; I feel like I might be free!"

Jack realized that Elaine did sound like a mermaid when she sang. She was constantly singing to herself, when she wasn't drawing or writing an extra story in the Booke; though North had told her never to do that.

"E-Elaine?" Jack came closer.

"I've been closed off, my secrets too cold and dark to share;

A frozen fortress, an arctic mermaid, share our secrets through the air!"

Elaine shifted, getting off the rock. Despite being a mermaid she had two legs. Her body was covered in scales like a fish, with the exception of her soft torso. She was a dark blue silver color. Her hair was teal and braided with beads and shells. Her clothes were silvery and easy to move in.

As she got closer she passed through the waterfall and changed back to her regular self.

"You came for me." Elaine said in her normal voice. "Jack, we have to stop Peter. I can't explain it, but we can't let him get a hold of the child he wants."


End file.
